Checker and chess board



J. F. TRUSKOSKI.

' CHECKER AND CHESS BOARD.

FILED ocT.|9.1921.

A IAA Patented'J an. 9, 1923.

` UNITED STATESv 'PATENT JOHN F. TRUsKosKI, or oHIoAGo,-ILI'.INors.

CHECKER AND CHESS BOARD.

Application led -October 19, 1921. Serial No. 5Q8,1822.l

To' all whom t may concern.' j

Be it known that I, JOHN F. Tnusnoskna citizen of the United States, residing in Chicago, Cook County, vented certain new and useful Improve- .ments Relating to Checker and Chess Boards,

of which the following is a specification.

One important object of these improvements is t-o provide a two-part board of the character described which may be folded and occupy a relatively small amount of space while protectively housing the playing pieces, which may be of' a sufficient number for either checkers or chess and appropriately marked for either game. nother'ini porta-nt object is to provide a checker-andchess board having the advantages next hereinabove pointed out andl which may be convenientlyV used'on a moving carrier such as a ship or railwayetrain without material danger that the pieces will become displaced vthrough jarring or tilting mouvements. y Another object is to provide a game device having the foregoing advantages and also the provision of a flat surface free from projections having spaces defined according to the requirements of the game, from one to the other of which spaces the vplaying piecesmay y aware that it has heretofore been suggestedY to produce a board, as in the present instance` which will have a thickness when folded which is substantially no greater than the-thickness of a relatively thin disc used as a player plus the thickness of the sheet material of the side walls of the folded device. the present construction Vproviding that such thickness may well be even less than tlnee-sixteenths of an inch.` The present invention is important in connection withY boards adapted to becarried in a vest or coat pocket, in small handbagstc..

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a face view of the inner surface of my'im- Illinois, have insuch devices,

`positioned one upon the other with bent away slight-ly proved board in open position with'playing pieces arranged thereon for combat in the game of checkers; Fig. 2 is a.v greatly enlarged fragmentary section of a portion of the board as on the line2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a .sectional ViewV across the 'board when .1n play-lngpositlon as on the line 3 3 of `F ig. 1; Fig. 4 is a sec-tion through the two parts of the board when folded together with the playing men retainingly held by the board parts; Fig. 5 is a perspective of the Aorifrcl-i.

board in its closed position; and Fig. 6 is a face view of several playing pieces marked for the game of chess.

In 'this specification the word board is meaning 'as applied to used lin its ordinary they being usually called checker or chess boards regardless of shape or construction.

According to my preferred construction `the board 1s stamped from relatively thin sheet metalywhich may well be aluminum and of say twenty to twenty-four gauge or less. It comprises two body parts 10 and 11 each of' which is shown as being identical with the other, whereby a single stamping' die or set of dies will suffice for both. Each.

ot' these parts 1() or 11 has` a rela-tively narrow marginaliiange 12, 13 and 14 turned up substantially at right angles with the main body of the plate and a fourth marginal flange 15, not as' deep as t-hefother three, whereby these two parts 10 and 11 may be the flanges 12, 13 and 14 of one part abutting the correspondingflanges of the other part, 'thus producing a flat casing which is closed' ex'- cept for a long and narrow opening at the' flanges l5.

A hinge ,is provided for holding the parts together whereby they may face each other in the casing-forming position or laid apart so as tolie in a common plane forplaying purposes. The hinge suggested comprises two small ears 16 each of which is an integral extension of the fiange 14 of each of the body parts,- each .of these ears16 being and then again forward. as well seen in Fig. 1. The arrangement of the playing spaces for the checker and chess game is such that two identical parts 10 and 11 can be b rought together as shown in Fig. l with the hinge extension 16 of each located at opposite edges of the board. At', the hinge the marginal flange 12 is also somevwhat extended, but in a straight line,and is "the free edges of the marginal flanges l2.

13 and 11. permits the two parts each otherfreelwwith the corresponding flanges 12, 13 and 11 abutting eachr other edge to edge and with the plate-like body of the parts respectively in parallel planes in their spaced-apart relative position `when the board is folded. A The checker or chess game calls for sixtyfour playing surfaces in eight parallel lines ineach of two directions which are at right angles to each other. as illustrated in Fig. 1.

This location of the hinge pm yand the playing surfaces are alternately marked in these parallel lines, usually in red and black colors. ln checkers the game is usually played on alternate black squares which define al double corner" `at the player-s right. ln both Figs. 1 and 5 the shaded squares indicate the surfaces used for checkers. In chess'all of the squares areused. Bothof -these games arel so well known that a detailedv description of them is not essential here.

According to the present improvements all of the playing surfaces on the board. whether for checkers or chess. are defined by a plurality of projections upstanding on what is the inner surface of the board` when folded. These projections include the marginal flanges 12,13, of device shown. The other projections are ridges 2O equally spaced apart and defining, with the marginal iianges mentioned. four lines of squares in one direction across each body part and eight lines of squares in the other direction on each part. These projections 20 are preferably in the form of intersecting ridges whereby each of the playing surfaces onbthe board has around it an upstanding rim adapted to hold the playing pieces such' as 22 and Q3 (Fig. 1) and 22 (Fig. `6) upon the playing surfaces respectively in such a manner that jarring or tilting of a train or ship on which the game hoard may be used will not dislodge the pieces from their desired positions of play. The ridges 20 are preferably of less depth than are the marginal ianges 12, 13 and 14 so as to give the player plenty of finger room for pickingup the playing pieces to transfer them from one position to another.

The playingl pieces themselves are shown as cylindrical discs having a diameter enabling them to enter quite loosely between opposite projections definingV the Yplaying;

1() and 1l to fold'upon 14 and 15 in the form on ship-board or on a train surfaces. and being is preferably just twice the depth of the flanges 12, 13 and 11 whereby when the two sides of theboard are folded together as in Fig. -l the playing pieces will lit snugly be tween the side walls of the device when the flanges l2, 13 and 1l come together. rl`he provisior of such thickness of the playing pieces prevents some rattling when the board is folded and insures the maximum finger grip upon the pieces during play.

ln this connection it is pointed out that the marginal flanges 15 are of the same height as the ridges 2l). which provision is made so that when the board is open for play. as in Fig. Il the two abutting flanges 15 will define a ridge of substantially the shape and height of the ridges 2() whereby no material inequality in the ridges from one side -of the board to the other will exist.

becomes adapted both for checkers and chess.

ln Fig. 6 l have shown the. reverse faces of four ofthe pieces 2Q. for convenience indicating them as '22, these showing conventional indications` for chess. Such chessmen illustrations would. of course, run through the series of pawns and pieces. sixteen in number for each side.

ll'henthe game of checkers is being played and a king is called for the actual playing piece may be crowned by one of the extra pieces provided for use in the game of chess: but when the board is being used the piece to be crowned is preferably reversed, exposing one of the chess figures. for distinguishing a'king from a common piece.

The stamping up of the ridges 2O on the inner surface of the board naturally causes depressions or grooves as Q5 in the outer surface. well seen in Fig. 5. thus defining playing spaces corresponding to those on the inner surfaces of the board. may therefore be played also on thel outer surface of the board. in which case the pieces maybe slid from one surface to the other. This marking on the outer surface of the board gives to it also an attractivel a )peara-nce and indicates the character of tl vice. Y

The various small playing surfaces may be painted with different colors such as black and red in the usual way, both outside and inside; but l prefer to omit the use of such markings and to score the appropriate surfaces by means of the forming die to in- Jither game v ie deof a thickness which leaving the other squares plain. The shaded lines stamped in the face of the metal. According to this construction a single stamping operation will make one of the parts 10 or 1l complete. i

The playing pieces may be made of wood, fibre, hard rubber or any other suitable material and will ordinarily consist of black and red discs which may be impressed with designs of ornamentation and with representations of chess figures on one side.

A simple form of spring-leaf-and-catch clasp 28 is provided at the free edge of the Y two parts for holding them together when in the folded position of Figs. 4 and 5. Such clasp elements may be stamped directly from the metal, as well shown in F ig. 4.

My improved game board may be formed of various kinds of material and according to other details of construction and which would be mere matters of mechanical skill to adopt in view of the disclosure hereof. Reference should therefore be had to the appended claims to determine the scope of the invention herein set forth. Y

I claim:

1. A. checker-and-chess board comprisin two flat plate-like parts of thin metal hinged to lie in the same plane when open and to lie in substantially parallel spaced-apart planes when folded, means, stamped up projections on the inner surface of each of the parts when folded, for holding playing pieces in the relative positions called for by the game of checkers or chess, each plate-like part having marginal projections constituting flange-like edges for the device, the flange-like edges of one part abutting the corresponding flange-like edges of the other part when the device is folded, the projec tions defining playing spaces, the corresponding spaces registering with each other when the board is folded.

2. A checker-and-chess board comprising two flat plate-like parts of thin material and of substantially corresponding size and shape, the parts being hinged to lie in the same plane when open and to lie in substantially parallel spaced-apart planes when folded, each of said parts having thirty-two playing spaces arranged as in checkers and chess on the inner surface thereof when the board is folded, saidspaces being defined by relatively low ridges upstanding from the` surface of the parts respectively, the corresponding playln spaces registering with each other when t e board is folded, and a plurality of playing pieces adapted to oc.- cupy respectively any' of said spaces when the board is folded, thethickness of the pieces respectively and the distance between the facing inner surfaces of the parts being such that when the board is folded with including such pieces in the corresponding spaces the thickness of the folded board is but slightly' greater than the thickness of thepieces respectively plus the thickness of the material of the parts covering the pieces on both sides thereo 3. A checker-and-chess board comprising two flat plate-like parts of thin metal hinged to lie in the same plane when open and to lie in substantially parallel spaced-apart planes of eachof the parts when folded, for holding playing pieces on the -boardin the relative positions called for by the game of checkers or chess, the projections defining playing spaces, the corresponding spaces of each part registering with each other when the board is folded, each plate-like part having marginal projections constituting flangelike edges for the device, the Hangelike edges of one part abutting the corresponding flange-like edges of the other part when the device is folded, the outer surface of each part also having playing spaces ar.- ranged as in checkers and chess, said spaces being defined by the recesses formed by stamping the projections on the inner surfaces of the two parts.

4. A checker-and-chess board comprising two substantially rectangular parts each having a marginal fiange of substantially uniform and relatively Anarrow width upstanding therefrom, the two parts being substantially of the same shape whereby they may be brought together with the Hanges of one close to theflanges 'of the other to form a relatively thin and flat casing having side and edge walls. hinge means between the two parts for holding them together as a casing in one position and with the main body of the parts lying in the same plane in another position, a plurality of series of spaced-apart parallel ridges on the inner surface of each of said parts. the 'ridges of one series beingvat an angle to the adjacent ridges respectively of another series and said ridges defining thirty-two playing spaces on each part, corresponding spaces on each part registering with each other when the parts are folded -together as a casing.

5. A checker-and-chess board comprising 'Ilo .when folded together, means, including lstamped up projections on the inner surface two substantially rectangular parts of-thin registering with each other when the parts are folded together as u casing, said ridges being stamped in the metal of the parts and leaving corresponding recesses which sub.- stuntiully define corresponding playing surfaces on the outer surfaces respectively of said parts. y

JOHN F. TRUSKOSKI. 

